A Chineham man has cycled over 300 miles from London to Paris to raise money for charity.

Mick Thompson completed the journey in honour of his older brother, James, who has Downs Syndrome.

The money that Mick raised went to Mencap, a charity which works to improve the lives of people with learning disabilities.

Mick explained: “My oldest brother James, thank goodness he’s still with us, he has Downs Syndrome and I just felt that he’s not going to be with us forever and I thought it would be a good time to do the ride for Mencap.

“My family have had a lifelong association with the charity.

“My father was chairman of the London branch of it for many years.”

Mick Thompson managed to raise over £4700, more than twice the amount of his fundraising goal of £2000.

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Mick wanted to thank everyone who donated for helping him beat his target.

He said: “It was a pretty conservative target to be honest, and I know a lot of people and I got a lot of support both from friends and through people that I work with, from journalists that I know and work with.

“I had a lot of targets to approach, and I am very happy with what I’ve raised.

“I’ve thanked everyone who has donated personally as I’ve gone along, but I would like to give a massive thank you to everybody who donated.”

Mick completed the over 300-mile journey in a few days, starting in London on Wednesday, June 8, and arriving in Paris on Saturday (June 9) afternoon.

This is the fourth time that Mick has completed the journey.

He jokingly said that his favourite part of the journey was arriving in Paris, saying: “My favourite part was when it ended!

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“Lunch in Paris on Sunday was the highlight of the week!”

Mick has no other cycling plans for the near future, joking “What’s next? I’ll put my bike on eBay!

He continued: “I don’t know, I’m just having a bit of a rest.

“I need to let my derriere get back to normal because sitting in the saddle for about 80 miles a day for four days, it isn’t the most comfortable thing on a road bike.

“So, I’ll rest and recuperate for a little while and then start to think about what’s next.”

To find out more about Mick or to donate to his campaign, visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/mick-thompson5.

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